SOCO provides offshore Congo operational update

It has contracted a rig to drill the Mer Profonde Sud commitment well. SOCO is carrying 100% of the expected $25‐30 million well cost. The well is targeting gross P50 prospective resource of around 330 MMbbl of oil. It is expected to be spudded in either December 2015 or January 2016, depending on when the rig becomes available, and is expected to take around one month to drill.

SOCO continues discussions with the Congo authorities regarding commercialization options for the Marine XI field. The government has requested that the results be presented as a production license application, which is in the process of being finalized for submission prior to license expiry in March 2016.

The company continues seismic reprocessing across the block, following successful Eni discoveries on the neighboring blocks, with the results expected by the end of 2015.